Fragile As Glass
by kittykatloren
Summary: "Do not waste these fleeting years thinking about what may come. The present is fragile, as fragile as this glass, and I implore you… do not break it with dreams of the future." FE9/10; Sephiran/Sanaki oneshot.


**A/N: **Just more Sephiran/Sanaki, because not enough exists. Light-hearted. Enjoy and please leave a review!

**Words: **1080  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Sanaki, Sephiran, others  
><strong>Time: <strong>Between PoR and RD  
><strong>Genre:<strong> Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognize belongs to Nintendo, not me.

* * *

><p>"Lady Lyra. What a pleasure to see you again. Ah, and Your Grace, Elenor, duchess of Seriola. It is an honor. You are looking more radiant than ever, Your Grace."<p>

"Oh, Prime Minister Sephiran," the duchess said, her voice a high-pitched flutter, like butterfly wings. "You are too kind."

"It is a pity the duke was not able to attend tonight. Is he busy with other affairs?"

Duchess Elenor gave a tinkly laugh. "Oh, no. He was not feeling well this morning, and I recommended that he remain in bed while I take his place tonight. He is gouty, you know, and the long journey of the past week must have exhausted him, but I feel more lively than ever. He did not want to miss tonight, but I can be quite forceful, when I want to be. I am told it is an intriguing quality, possibly unique among the women of the court…"

Sephiran's answering smile was so indulgent that Sanaki almost gagged. She couldn't see the duchess's face, but she was positive that the lady was an old hag. Sanaki lingered just long enough to see the duchess lean toward Sephiran, her arms forward and tightened, pressing her breasts together teasingly. As she turned a little, Sanaki noticed she wore a scandalously low-cut dress and fluttered her painted lashes, with reddened lips and rouged cheeks to complete the disgusting picture.

Growling fiercely at anyone who tried to stop her, Sanaki whisked out of the grant hall and tore through the corridors. She passed the inner garden on the way to her rooms and thought that if she saw a butterfly, she would catch it and pin it dead like the alchemists did. When she finally reached her magnificent quarters, she slammed the door shut and crossed the gold-carpet floor in quick pattering strides. She tore off her binding shoes, threw them aside, then whipped around to face her shiny mirror.

The girl staring back at her wore a familiar pout and a rich, silken robe, bare toes poking out from beneath the hem. She turned herself this way and that, studying her slender excuse for a figure, furious at the lack of shape it provided. It was so irritating that she growled aloud, even stamped her foot and stormed away, creating a flurry of noise that lured a familiar, gentle knock to her door.

"Empress Sanaki? You sound distressed. May I come in?"

She didn't answer, but Sephiran opened the door anyway, peering inside before catching sight of her and smiling. She was firmly rooted to her begs, legs and arms crossed impossibly tightly, her eyes glowering at the floor as if it had done her a great personal wrong. Sephiran glided over to her with infuriating coolness.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

"Merely to inquire as to the reason behind that severe look of displeasure haunting your otherwise charming features, my empress."

Sanaki caught sight of her smoldering expression in the mirror, but turned away before she could see anything else. "I want to grow up," she muttered. "I'm sick and tired of looking into the mirror and seeing a baby. A _baby_. I was in a war. I'm more grown up than any of those court buffoons and doltish ladies you always have fawning over you, with their dipping dresses and painted eyelashes and flattering words – I'm more grown up than them _all_, but they're the ones who get to look like it, they get all your attention in the evenings - "

Her voice had risen to a bitter shrill, but Sephiran only smiled good-naturedly and took her arm. "Is that what this is about? Could this be jealousy coming from the empress of Bengion?"

"No!" Sanaki protested, but her cheeks turned pink.

"Come with me, Sanaki."

Sephrian escorted her to the mirror, and they faced it together. She felt even more childish next to him, her teacher, her guardian, in all his wisdom and smooth grace, his confidence, his easy smile and comforting touch. He twined his fingers through her hair and studied their reflections.

"Do you know what I see, Empress?" he said. "I see a beautiful girl, a stunning girl, a girl whose mere presence brings an entire nation to their knees. I see a girl whose every word wraps a spell around her people. A girl whose smile can outshine the sun – but whose irritated frown can make even the most hardened of assassins flee in terror."

By now, Sanaki could not continue to look angry. Her face relaxed, the flames in her eyes subsiding. "You are a flatterer, Sephiran. But I - "

"However," he interrupted with a devilish grin, "you are, nevertheless, a girl. You are only eleven, Empress Sanaki. You do indeed have a ways to go before you catch up to the "doltish ladies" of the court in certain aspects - "

"Sephiran!" cried Sanaki. She arched her back and puffed her chest out, trying desperately to make something out of nothing. "I do too have a chest. I do!"

His laugh was both soft and resonant, a warm sound from the back of her throat. She knew from experience that if she laid her ear against his collar, she would be able to feel its rumbling vibration.

"There is time for that yet," he said. He touched her shoulders and rubbed them until she relaxed back into her normal, though still very straight-backed, posture. He sighed when he released her. "Do not grow up too fast, my empress. Know that I will always be beside you, that my gaze is only ever for you, and do not waste these fleeting years thinking about what may come. The present is fragile, as fragile as this glass, and I implore you… do not break it with dreams of the future."

There was such an earnestness about his words, a pleading tone in his smooth and beautiful voice, that Sanaki could not help but concede. She swayed against him. In the mirror, she saw that her head only reached his waist. His arm wrapped comfortingly around her small shoulders. Sanaki could not resist a final declaration.

"Still. Someday I'll be prettier than all of them."

Sephiran did not hesitate a second. His smile was instant and true.

"You already are."


End file.
